Water under the finish floor, read in the subfloor and joists, dried to its goal, then kept or replaced floor by floor.
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Water under a finished floor in Hammond is usually found in the subfloor and the joists rather than on the surface. Hardwood, vinyl and carpet over plank or plywood can look dry while the subfloor below them is still holding water. The job is to read the subfloor and the joists, dry them to the goal, and then decide which finish boards can be kept.
The finish floor is the part of a house that people see, and it is also the part that hides the most water. A hardwood floor that has taken water may cup, lift or gap after a few days, and a vinyl floor may look flat while the adhesive and the subfloor under it stay wet. What the owner sees is rarely the whole loss.
Older Hammond and Highland houses often have plank subfloors laid across the joists, with a finish floor of narrow strip oak or a sheet of vinyl over the planks. The seams between the planks let water run along them, and the water drops through to the joist bays, where it stays. A subfloor that looks sound from above can be wet along an entire room.
The reading of a floor is done from underneath where possible. Access through a basement ceiling, a crawl space or a small opening in the floor shows the joists and the underside of the subfloor, and the readings there decide how much of the finish has to come up.
Take care on a floor that has lifted or cupped, since loose boards can trip and nails can catch. Do not walk on a soft spot near an outside wall, and keep rugs and furniture away from the work area.
The common combination in older houses. Water runs along the plank seams and under the strip oak, and the floor cups after a few days. The drying is done from below, and the boards are sanded only after they have flattened.
A floating floor over plywood can look dry at the surface while the plywood edges hold water. The seams are opened at the readings that stay high, and the plywood is checked at its joints.
Carpet takes water and holds it in the pad. The pad is usually removed, the carpet is extracted or taken up, and the subfloor beneath is read before any new pad goes down.
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
Wood and adhesive dry slowly under a finish, and the surface can feel dry while the moisture is still in the subfloor. Cupping and lifting often appear several days after the water has gone.
Hardwood takes in water from below and the top of the board dries first, so the board curls up at the edges where the moisture is highest. The change may take days to show, and it can look like a problem that started after the work was finished. The readings taken in the first few days are the best record of what happened.
Vinyl and laminate are less visible, but the adhesive and the underlayment hold water against the subfloor. A soft spot or a ridge at a seam is often the first sign, and the readings are taken at that spot before the finish is lifted.
Hardwood can be saved if it flattens after drying and its boards are sound. Boards that stay cupped, split or swollen at the joints are replaced.
Strip oak in an older house is often thick enough to be sanded and refinished after it has dried. The boards are numbered as they come up, so that the same pattern can be reinstalled in the same place. Where a board is badly swollen, it is replaced with a board that matches the species and width as closely as possible.
The decision is made after the floor has dried to its goal. A floor that is sanded while still wet, or that is refinished over a damp subfloor, will fail again in the same place and the owner will bear the cost of the second repair.
Refinishing leaves the wood open to moisture for a while, so the finish is applied only after the readings have been dry for the full period in the plan. The choice between an oil and a film finish is made with the refinisher, since some finishes trap moisture if they are laid over a damp board.
Air is moved across the subfloor from below, through the basement ceiling or a crawl space access, and from above where a finish has been lifted. The joists are read along their length.
The joists are the path of the water and the slowest part of the framing to dry. The equipment is placed under the subfloor where it can be reached, and the air is directed along each bay. The readings in the joists show whether the water has reached them and whether it is leaving at the rate the plan expects.
Basement ceilings that are finished with drywall or plaster are opened only where the readings stay high. Those openings are small and they are recorded, and they are closed once the framing beneath the subfloor has dried.
The subfloor should read dry at every joist, the seams should be closed and the surface should be level. A new floor laid over a damp or uneven subfloor will show the same damage again.
A level check is part of the closing stage. Where the subfloor has swollen at the seams, the high points are sanded and the gaps are filled before the new finish is laid. Underlayment and a vapour barrier, where they are used, are chosen for the finish and the subfloor, and that choice is made with the installer.
The owner gets the drying record and the list of what was kept and what was replaced. That record matters for the insurer and for any future sale, because it shows the subfloor was read and dried before the finish went back down.
The underside of the subfloor and the joists are read through the basement ceiling or the crawl space. Meters on the wood show where the moisture sits, and the readings are taken along each joist bay.
The surface readings show whether the finish is wet, cupped or lifted. Hardwood is read at the edges and the seams, vinyl at the adhesive line, and carpet and pad at the tack strip.
Finish that is cupped, lifted or stained through is taken up in a section, so the subfloor can dry. Boards that come up clean are numbered and kept for reinstallation where the readings allow.
Air is directed across the subfloor from below and above, and the readings are taken until the subfloor and the joists reach their dry goal. A floor that is closed up before the readings are dry will cup again.
Boards that flattened after drying are kept and refinished. Boards that stayed cupped, split or swollen are replaced, and the record shows which ones and why.
Plank subfloors and strip oak floors are common in older Hammond and Highland houses, and both respond to water in ways a newer floor does not. The readings are taken with that construction in mind.
Houses on the low ground near the Little Calumet corridor, where the 2008 water rose, can have floors over crawl spaces or basements that stayed wet for a long time. Those floors are read from below before they are judged from above.
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Controlled air movement and dehumidification that run until the wall, floor and framing readings reach their dry goal.
Water from a water heater, washing machine, dishwasher or refrigerator line, closed at the source and dried from the lowest floor up.
Water in a crawl space or under a raised floor, read through the joists and the subfloor and dried from below and above.
Mold concerns after water damage, handled by drying the wet materials and asking clear questions about who does any testing or removal.
Permit questions for repairs in Lake County go to the city or town building department where the house sits, not to a county office.
Water in the subfloor draws the edges of the boards up as it dries from the top. The cupping is a sign the moisture is still moving, and the readings show how much is left.
Only if the boards have flattened and the surface is uneven. A sanding done too early on a floor that is still wet will cause problems later.
Sometimes, from below through a basement ceiling or a crawl space. If the readings stay high from below, the finish is lifted in a section to let the subfloor dry.
Carpet that took clean water can often be extracted in place. Carpet with a wet pad over a damp subfloor is usually taken up so the floor can be read.
The flooring installer or refinisher does that work and quotes it separately. The restoration record says which boards were kept and which are to be replaced.
Walk on it only when it is firm and the boards lie flat. A floor that still feels spongy, cups under weight or shows a new gap should be kept clear until the readings and the surface have settled, and heavy furniture should wait until then too.